Search - Living End :: State of Emergency

KAPOW! TLE rocks, and expands...again!

R. Gunn | 08/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"i wish we had band this cool in the U.S....



TLE returns with an amazing rock album...the punkabilly element is there...but so is every modern rock element that's worth hearing. big guitars, big vocal hooks...man. these guys are great.



i am a 40 year old jaded musician...haha...but these guys are doing it the way it SHOULD BE DONE. good songs, good playing, good band.



the only reason i gave the album 4 stars instead of 5 is because the production is a little dark and muddy here and there...maybe stylish, but not what this band deserves.



i hear everything here from the Pistols to King Crimson...no joke."

Emergency! Paging....

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 08/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Good punk -- like any really good music -- is kinda hard to find. You have to sift through dozens of hack, ripoff bands before finding something with energy and brilliance.



And one good example is the Living End's latest album, "State of Emergency." The longstanding Aussie band mixes tightly-wound punk and kinetic instrumentation with some wicked musical aesthetics. It's pretty bloody hard to find a song on here that won't get your heartrate up through the roof.



It opens with an attention-grabbing bassline, which explodes into a fast-racing electric guitar riff. By the time it slows down into a steady punker, listeners will be hooked. "Countdown toward the end now/no need to panic, no need to panic now... I'm stepping on enemy lines/We're gonna take you to the end of the line!"



The songs that follow are just as taut as those lyrics, and they hardly ever slow down the machine-gun pace. There's the tight, winding punk-rockers, slow-burners, the dancey rockers, the rockabilly edge which harkens back to the band's roots, and the slower, drum-led "Order of the Day," which hints at a more epic sound.



Not every song is all rock'n'roll -- "No Way Out" is a gentle, sort of fuzzy acoustic melody that sounds almost like a folky ballad. It still has a rough edge, which explodes into rock'n'roll about halfway through the song. But it shows they can do more than just rock.



No rock pretensions, no ripping off the Clash or the Ramones. Best of all, absolutely ZERO boredom -- the Living End know how to rock. And unlike most rock bands, they know how to do it without sounding like they're playing the same bloody song over and over.



Instead, they break out with rapid-fire electric guitar and blasts of blasts here and there, with a sinuous line here and there to spice things up. They're fast, kinetic and the instrumentation is absolutely seamless, mixed in with some solid drums. Usually they repeat the riffs a few times to get toes tapping, then switch gears before it can get repetitive.



Nice lyrics too -- not brilliant lyrically, but they have the same sense of urgency and tension that the first song does, which match the music to a tee ("Cause they don't wanna know about the things you've done/They don't wanna know about the damage done/Everyone is going down!"). And frontman Chris Cheney has an excellent voice, strong and raw, but with a melodious edge.



Rough, tightly-wound and ripe for repeated listening, the Living End show what they're made of in "State of Emergency" -- and apparently they're made of raw diamond."

Punkabilly Rock at its Absolute Best

Diane Mcgough | Lake Oswego, OR | 02/03/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Living End's last release, "Modern Artillery" didn't do much for the trip which was a good thing, because the album was more of a blatant pop punk sellout album than anything else. So now the band is back doing what they do best; rockabilly influenced political ska punk. This is their fourth full-length album and a good follow-up to their second release. The album features song that incorporate the bands unique sound. Give "Wake Up" and What's On Your Radio" a listen and you'll see what I'm talking about.



There isn't anything as catchy out there as "Prisoner of Society" or "Roll On" from their first two albums, but this is their most matured album to date. Hopefully they will continue to write punkabilly rock tunes I the future, it's what they do best."